This makes a lovely pairing: the earlier, youthful work is full
of dark, restless energy and harmonic innovation while the mature
Op. 115 glows golden and autumnal. Both are united by typically
Brahmsian musical ideas characterised by the “dying fall”
in semitones. If any quartet is ideal to embody these melancholy
cadences it is that most nuanced and civilised of ensembles,
the Tokyo Quartet.

What lovely music this is and how elegantly both pieces are
played here. The sound is wonderfully full and warm, the ambience
and acoustic ideal for Brahms. There are other equally desirable
recordings but anyone purchasing this one cannot be disappointed.
Clarinettist Jon Manasse produces a rounded tone somewhat less
astringent than some rivals such as a favourite of mine with
Keith Puddy and the Delmé Quartet, but that is now twenty-five
years old and this is inevitably sonically more commanding.
The Adagio is a serene lullaby, the Andantino marked by a sprightly,
sustained momentum and liquid passages in which semiquavers
bubble and effervesce. The Con moto fourth movement contains
many felicities such as the tripping triple time of the fifth
Variation before the reintroduction of the first movement’s
opening theme and a sweetly poignant coda.

The Piano Quintet is given a more expressive treatment than
the acclaimed recording by the Artemis Quartet and I prefer
Jon Nakamatsu’s fuller tone to Andsnes’s drier sound.
Here, the piano is recorded more closely and assertively, too,
and again I favour the recording balance. In the opening Allegro,
Nakamatsu brings more variety and passion to his re-statement
of the driving main subject and the Tokyo strings match his
fiery commitment. The ensuing Andante is startling in its contrasting
restraint and hesitancy; the Artemis are too feisty. The martial
theme of the Scherzo is given a more overt, strident treatment
by the Artemis and, again, I prefer the Tokyo who engender a
more menacing and inflexible grandeur, making more of what the
liner-notes aptly characterise as Brahms’ “slithering
chromaticism”. The eerie, discordant opening of the Finale
is where the Tokyo really score over the Artemis; they bring
more attack and real gypsy bravura to the ensuing “furiant”.

By and large, the Artemis are sharper, cleaner and less indulgent,
the Tokyo more “Romantic” and better recorded; you
will know which style you prefer.

By the way: I never understand why some labels encase their
CDs in cardboard covers, reproducing what is already in the
disc booklet and back cover; I throw mine away.

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